


Plenty Of Fish (In the Aquarium)

by astorii



Series: Exes & Woes [3]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, KaiShin Exes AU, M/M, ShinRan Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astorii/pseuds/astorii
Summary: Kaito would never come with him to a place like this, so he takes Ran instead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not and never will own DCMK or anything you might recognize.

Kaito would never come to a place like this with him.

Shinichi stares through the glass, placing one hand on the surface as he watches the fish swim by in this manmade habitat. Watching as they swim by, he can’t help but envy how carefree they must feel in the tranquil waters; although, he can’t envy the way that they’ve been uprooted from their home in nature for the mere purpose of human entertainment.

Upon hearing the sound of running footsteps, he pulls his gaze away from the display and sees Ran jogging towards him, looking slightly out of breath.

“Ah, why didn’t you wait at the entrance?” she asks, placing her covered hands on her knees. She looks up at him. “You’re the one who invited me here.” Glancing around, she perks up, saying, “You know, this is the perfect place to use to get my parents back together! It’s so nice and calm, right? And who doesn’t love fish?” Then, she grimaces. “Aside from Kaito-kun, that is.”

Even hearing his name sends some sort of pain that resonates from his heart all the way around to even the tip of his toes. Shinichi turns on his heel. “Sharks,” he murmurs, glancing up. “I wanted to look at the sharks.”

“You know, I’m surprised you’d want to come to such a romantic date location and with me nonetheless,” she marvels behind him. “I mean, I know Kaito-kun doesn’t like fish, but you two—”

“We broke up, Ran, and I’d appreciate if you don’t mention his name for a while.”

Before he can elaborate, a hand claps down on his shoulder and he’s spun around so fast that the room lurches around him. When he adjusts, Ran is regarding him with a fixed stare as her face contorts into some weird expression as she tries to discern whether or not he’s been serious. By the looks of it, she’s leaning more towards the notion that this isn’t a joke. They hold onto the other’s gaze, eyes searching and yet also not all at once.

Her features soften and she throws herself toward him, wrapping her arms around him as he stands, paralyzed and unsure of what to do for a moment because usually it’s Kaito giving him hugs but _Kaito isn’t here right now_. Tentatively, he wraps whatever he can of his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder the same way Kaito would to him. Upon realizing the unintentional parallel, he freezes and she untangles herself from his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, looking away to give him a moment of weakness. By now, she knows that he can’t cry in front of others—he downright refuses to do so and always has. “I never thought that—well, you and Kaito-kun... you were...”

“Don’t be, Ran,” he says, ignoring the way she says his name. Shinichi inhales through his nose, letting it out in one quivering breath. At his side, his hands ball up into fists, trembling slightly as he tightens them with nails almost digging crescent-shaped divots into his palms. “I thought we were fine—better than fine, actually. He... he called me yesterday.” She makes a small noise when she realizes just why he had been acting so weird at school. “He said we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

The girl snaps her gaze towards his face, eyes wide and mouth gaping before her face twists into some sort of scowl. He almost flinches at the expression on her face and takes a small step back when she pounds one fist into an open hand, teeth grinding against each other. Angry is an understatement, he surmises, as livid is a much better descriptor.

“I’ll kill him,” she declares, seething and attracting the attention of many passers-by who shimmy around her in discomfort. “ _I’ll tear him apart with my bare hands and—_ ”

“I’d rather not have to assist the police in arresting my best friend,” he responds, managing to smile if only for her sake. All negativity melts away from her and he takes the moment to take her hand in his (—it’s calloused like Kaito’s, but for different reasons entirely—) and pulls her towards more displays. While some part of him just wants to look around at all the fish, Shinichi just wants to keep her from seeing the way his eyes water. “But thank you, Ran.”

She doesn’t say anything and instead matches pace with him so that they’re side-by-side. He angles his head to face away from her because Kudō Shinichi does not cry. Shinichi doesn’t even remember the last time he’s cried and he’s not going to make that moment now or ever.

“Have you tried asking him why?” she asks, her voice quiet and soft as though she believes any louder will shatter him; she may as well try. “Or did he already tell you?”

“I’ve tried reaching him but he won’t answer.” Shinichi ducks his head, walking faster until his legs just stop, forcing people to walk around the pair. “I think he blocked me.”

She frowns, pulling out her phone and entering her password quicker than Shinichi can comprehend. He looks at her with wide eyes, saying, “Wait, Ran, don’t bother. He probably—” when she holds up a finger and presses her phone against her ear. He doesn’t say anything more, but as much as he’d like to get some answers, he doesn’t know how to feel if it’s only him that Kaito’s unwilling to speak with.

“ _The number you are trying to reach is una—_ ”

She clicks her phone off. “He’s lucky that he lives in Ekoda,” she remarks before her eyes brighten. As if her mood takes a complete turn, she beams at him. “We’re going to go to the café because I heard from Sonoko how cute it is.”

Shinichi stumbles after her until he picks up the scent of a case and whirls around to see a small crowd.

Despite himself, he jumps into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m aiming for a minimum of three chapters and a max of five.
> 
> Also, I watched the remastered version of episode one and I found it adorable how tiny Shinichi is as Conan and I love how it followed the manga so I think I’ll be writing that version later in the series.
> 
> So, our detective just got broken up with yesterday by his boyfriend of two years without much explanation. He’s still kind of in denial and he definitely wants answers, but we’ll see him break a bit later. :)
> 
> And, as some of you may notice, this is a rewritten version of the scene I wrote in my story dump. :p


	2. Chapter 2

One stab to the heart with a knife is all it took to steal this man’s life.

Pulling away from the body, Shinichi examines the body, keeping his hands to himself so as to not contaminate any evidence for the time being. He focuses on his breathing, trying to dispel any and all thoughts of Kaito because he very well can’t solve a crime if he’s emotionally compromised.

“Shinichi!” he hears Ran shout, her voice drawing nearer as she weaves through the crowd with an employee in tow just like he had directed. “I brought someone like you asked!”

Baffled, the employee tugs on his hat, most likely having been dragged over without a thorough explanation. Shinichi looks at him, telling the man to seal all exits and to contact the police; it’s too late for an ambulance for even if he does begin first aid, too much blood has spilled and the placement of the wound is quite fatal.

As the employee dashes away, holding onto his hat, the detective turns his head to look at Ran and orders her to keep all other guests at bay and to discourage them from coming near or touching the body. At his choice of words, she can’t help but ask if the man is dead.

“Yeah,” says he, eyes roaming for any possible clue that will point him towards the perpetrator. “Someone in this aquarium stabbed him.”

As the gathering of people breaks out into murmurs and whispered exchanges, Ran’s eyes well up with tears, surely saddened by the fact that something so horrible had just happened, and she cries out, “But why? I didn’t hear a scream so how do you know?”

“The smell,” he answers. Before she can query anymore, he continues with an explanation. “Red blood cells contain a protein that carries oxygen called hemoglobin; it’s mostly made of iron.” He asks if she’s ever licked a cut, tasting something akin to iron or rust after doing so. “So, naturally, it smells like iron as well.”

Just as perplexed as the employee had been, she claims, “But I didn’t smell anything,” with a stammer in her voice to which he replies with, “They’re like sharks. Sharks can smell the faintest trace of blood. Their ears are even sharper, allowing them to hear frequencies as low as 40 hertz from two kilometers away. They approach using their sense of smell, determine their prey’s exact location by their electric fields, and attack.

“They head to the crime scene when they smell blood. They use all their senses to find the culprit. They tear into their prey with the sharp teeth of evidence.” He juts out a hand, pressing it against the glass, attracting a shark with the sound of contact between the window to the water and the palm of his hand. A second later, his fingers clench. “... That’s what a detective does.”

“Shinichi, are you sure you can handle this?” Ran asks, stepping closer to him. She places a hand on his shoulder as he turns away from her. “I’m sure the police don’t need a deduction otaku like you to solve this.”

“I’m fine, Ran,” he retorts, sucking in a breath. “Really.”

She doesn’t say anything in return, but she watching for a moment; he can feel the weight of her gaze on his back and he’s thankful when she pulls away. In the meantime, he tells her to keep watch over the body, leaving her sputtering nonsense as he goes off in search of anyone who might have seen the culprit.

All he gets are negatives and he tells Megure as much when the man arrives to the scene minutes later with some forensics officers and police detectives.

“Oh? Are you on a date at the aquarium?” asks the inspector, raising his brows. “I thought you were dating Kuroba Kaito-kun.” He frowns. “You aren’t being unfaithful, are you, Kudō-kun?”

Waving her hands in front of her, Ran protests with, “I-it’s not like that at all!” as she notices the way her best friend tenses at the mention of his now-ex. “A-ah, Kaito-kun broke up with Shinichi yesterday and...” She glances at him. “Just... don’t mention it?”

“I see.” Megure rugs down on the brim of his hat. “My apologies, Kudō-kun. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I understand if you’re not feeling up to—”

“Don’t take this away from me, Megure-keibu,” Shinichi interjects, collecting himself as he bristles under two incredulous and pitying stares. He swallows. “I can’t just leave a mystery that I’m already involved in.”

And, without anymore preamble, the investigation continues with the detective explaining how the stabbing process had gone and pointing out that the victim had been knocked out using a stun gun, which explains why no scream could be heard. He deduces that the crime occurred only minutes prior to his arrival at the scene. And having discovered that there are no means of identification on the body, Megure is about to bid someone to find out the man’s identity when Shinichi interrupts, naming him to be Kunihiro Shunoto, aged 26, and a gas station worker in Haido City.

“He probably took off work to—” Shinichi shuffles his feet “—have a date with his girlfriend who’s about 160 cm tall, wearing a miniskirt, and likes dolphins.”

Before the uncomfortable atmosphere can become a noose around his neck, the teen detective plunges into an explanation, pointing out the scent of perfume that lingers on various places of Kunihiro’s clothes and how women tend to spray perfume in certain places, which explains how some remnants transferred onto the victim’s clothes.

Using that and the items on the receipt from Kunihiro’s wallet, he can deduce as much.

“Impressive as always, Kudō-kun.” Megure nods and gives the order for the phones and cameras of each guest to be collected when Shinichi recommends doing so.

Even though he hasn’t heard a single notification, Shinichi checks his phone in hopes that Kaito’s name will appear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi, I’m sorry to say, but Kaito won’t be contacting you for a while. :/
> 
> I’m trying to work out which episodes I’m going to be including in this series. So far I have the first episode, _Conan Is Kidnapped_ , and the Black Pearl Heist. I want to work on the earlier episodes first, then write my own and integrate later episodes so that the entire series isn’t just pure canon. We’ll also have installments in Kaito’s POV to answer the questions that Conan can’t answer for us.
> 
> Anyway, feel free to leave suggestions!


	3. Chapter 3

Three suspects: Jinbe Kodai, 28; Nakagiri Kanoko, 27; Ojiro Naho, 26.

The ex’s new beau, the girlfriend, and the ex herself.

Shinichi raises his brows when he realizes that all three respondents have video proof to serve as alibis—and what luck that is! He watches from behind the inspector, but he’s distracted by the way Ran is watching him. The detective observes, noting that everyone’s voices appear in each video and even himself and Ran make some sort of cameo in two of the videos; however, there’s something that doesn’t sit right with him and he’s stuck on what it may be.

Then, he figures it out.

Knowing now who the true criminal is, Shinichi wonders about the setting of the crime scene: a bright, fairly populated tunnel. In the aquarium, he’s noticed darker tunnels where it had been a little difficult to see properly, so why choose that tunnel in particular where anyone can see anything?

“I just feel like there’s something that makes that tunnel special,” he murmurs as he tries to work out exactly where that person placed their phone in order to obtain that video.

“That’s because there are fish everywhere you look!” Ran exclaims, her face lighting up. “And it feels like you’re at the bottom of the ocean.”

The detective gapes, wondering how he hadn’t seen it before and quietly slips out the door, running to the very same tunnel in which a murder took place. He skids to a halt, shoes squeaking against the ground, and he looks around, unable to keep the self-assured smirk off of his face. Shinichi watches schools of fish swim through and Ran jogs around the corner.

Before she can even inquire as to what he’s doing or whatever has crossed his mind, he asks her to gather Megure and the trio of suspects over here.

As expected, all three are varying levels of outraged when they find themselves being singled out and forbidden from leaving. He gives them their moment of protest and the inspector his moment of befuddled confusion before offering his own words.

“Yes, we did see your videos,” he says, capturing their attention, “but there’s something strange about one of them and it practically said to us that you had done it.” To quell Nakagiri’s fear of being named as the perpetrator, he assures her that it hadn’t been her dolphin show video that had seemed strange, but he does refrain from criticizing her video too harshly, which is shaky and lacking in sound quality. “An amateur,” he calls her, “whereas Jinbe-san isn’t; his video is smoother—unfortunately, he’s not the criminal and is just used to videoing. The problem lies in his girlfriend’s video.” Having closed his eyes out of pain for needing to say such an intimate title, he opens them, piercing her with his gaze. “Ojiro Naho-san, it can only be you.”

To begin his demonstration, he holds Jinbe’s and Ojiro’s phones in either hand, playing both of their videos at the same time. To the puzzled audience, he asks if they notice anything different about both videos to which Jinbe points out that his video is horizontal whereas Ojiro’s is filmed vertically.

“Normally,” says Shinichi, “if you want to shoot a long fish like a shark, you’d shoot horizontally just as Jinbe-san did as you’d want its whole body in the frame. And even if you weren’t filming with the intent of catching the shark, it’s still strange how everyone is simply walking right through the shot as though they don’t see someone possibly taking pictures or filming like they did to Jinbe-san; it’s as though they had no idea she was filming.” Noting the look in her eyes, he moves his arm, bringing her phone closer to the back of her boyfriend’s head as he continues. “And it’s no wonder given that you placed your phone in his hat to film this video.”

With an expression akin to a deer caught in headlights, she gawks at him as he explains that this is the reason she had chosen this tunnel to commit her crime. If she hadn’t, her alibi would have been shattered or nonexistent. When asked by Megure how the man hadn’t noticed the phone in his hat, Shinichi replies that his girlfriend must have told him something was on it or something to that effect and that taking the phone out is just as easily done as it is said.

Then, the question of how the video on Ojiro’s phone came out as steady as it did crops up, and Shinichi answers that by pulling on the zipper of Jinbe’s turtleneck jacket. A neck brace, he explains. The teen had noticed it when he had spoken to him and witnessed the man turning his entire body as opposed to just his neck and how the blogger had held his phone in front of his face to look at it.

Shinichi corners her by pulling off her right glove to reveal the blood she had spilled from her ex-boyfriend.

And, after listening to her motives, the case is closed.

Side-by-side, Ran and Shinichi walk together, heading home for the night. Now, there’s nothing to distract him from yesterday, so the latter just stares at the ground quietly with his hands hidden in his pockets.

“You know, Shinichi, I can still catch a train to Ekoda and beat up Kaito-kun for you,” she tells him.

“No need, Ran.” He does a small half-smile. “There’s still hope that he still wants... er, _us_ , right? At the very least, maybe I’ll get an explanation.”

“You’re being all sad again now that you don’t have a case to work on,” she acknowledges, giving him this pointed stare. “It’s not healthy to distract yourself like that. Maybe you should try calling Kaito-kun when you get home to see if he’s willing to talk to you.”

He looks at her. “It’s been a day, Ran, not much can change.”

“You’d be surprised, Shinichi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best work, but it’s okay.
> 
> Shinichi still has yet to go through the phase where he’s horribly distraught and sad. Right now, he’s just confused and hurt. Plus, he literally only just got broken up with, so he’s hanging onto the hope that Kaito will call him and be like, “Oh, Shinichi, I am so sorry,” but hA sorry that’s not happening. :(
> 
> So, I’m trying to give Shinichi reasons to like Ran... again.
> 
> But, anyway, yes, as the series progresses, you might notice that Shinichi throws himself into cases because he doesn’t know how else he’s supposed to handle his feelings since talking to someone apparently doesn’t exist.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you enjoyed the chapter. :)


End file.
